Linda Wills of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign with C.P. Allen students Cora Leigh MacDonald and Emily Neil at the Woven Together event (Charlotte Harrison photo).

Organizations gathered across the Peninsula to honour the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day through events ranging from film screenings to dance lessons.

Tuesday morning, the International Women’s Forum Atlantic chapter hosted a breakfast at Casino Nova Scotia. Ann Mackenzie, chair of the organization, said she was glad to have the opportunity to celebrate women’s accomplishments.

“We realize that there are still challenges for women, but we want to celebrate our successes,” she said.

Mackenzie said that women are still a minority in upper-management positions in the private sector, mainly due to difficulties networking. The International Women’s Forum connects successful women to up-and-coming businesswomen to help them move forward in their careers.

“You can’t tell me there aren’t talented women out there. They just don’t have the networks in place,” she said. “We want to help advance each other and increase equality for women.”

The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign raises money and awareness for African grandmothers caring for their orphan grandchildren due to AIDS-related deaths, with 240 groups across Canada. Linda Wills, the Grandmother liaison for the Atlantic region, said the anniversary is particularly significant for this older group of activists.

“A lot of the older women around here have been part of the women’s movement in one fashion or another for decades. Today is just like ‘YES! We made it!'”

Wills was also pleased to see young women at the event. “Seeing young faces in the room gives me courage,” she said. “You’re picking up the torch when we move on.”

Valerie Hearder, owner of African Threads, gave a presentation about her organization that sells textile art made by South African women.

Hearder said women’s rights are still a major issue in many African countries.

“International Women’s Day is an opportunity to examine how we can help the millions of women who face unemployment, poverty, violence, polygamy and sickness,” she said. “Although it’s a celebration, the fight is far from over.”

Mufaro Chakabuda, an African dance instructor with the Maritime Centre for African Dance, concluded the day’s festivities by performing a dance to celebrate womanhood.

Mufaro Chakabuda teaches the audience of Woven Together an African dance to celebrate women

That evening, the Dalhousie Women’s Centre hosted a film screening of Women Without Men and a round-table discussion about women’s issues.

Ashley Alberg, leader of the Gender and Women’s Studies society at Dalhousie, said International Women’s Day is a chance to “recognize that women have had to fight for rights, and continue to have to fight for rights.”

The event also encourages solidarity, Alberg said. “I can’t think of any culture where women are completely respected and treated as equals.”

Shirley Tillotson, coordinator of the Dalhousie Gender and Women’s Studies Programme, said that Canadian women still face social inequality. Tillotson said that it’s important to use International Women’s Day as an opportunity to evaluate women’s status in society.

“There are still a lot of differences between the normal pay of working class women’s jobs and working class men’s jobs,” she said.

Proposed changes to a new garbage by-law have some citizens of the HRM talking. These new additions to by-law S600 would include: reducing bag limits from six to four, and replacing standard black garbage bags with clear ones.

Both changes aim to reduce the amount of compostable and recyclable waste going to landfills. The city estimates that about 30% of waste that goes into the black garbage bags does not belong there.

By Claire Stanbridge

Mandy McLellan, a student at NSCAD, recycles

Proposed changes to a new garbage by-law have some citizens of the HRM talking. These new additions to by-law S600 would include: reducing bag limits from six to four, and replacing standard black garbage bags with clear ones.

Both changes aim to reduce the amount of compostable and recyclable waste going to landfills. The city estimates that about 30% of waste that goes into the black garbage bags does not belong there.

The adoption of clear plastic garbage bags is the biggest change under the proposed by-law. Citizens would also no longer be able to hide kitchen waste and recyclables in the black bags. However, not all of their waste will be on display. HRM will allow one small black “privacy bag” to be left curbside with the rest.

If the changes are approved, there will be a six -month education period that will include newsletters, and advertisements on TV, radio, and in newspapers. This period will also give suppliers an opportunity to restock with clear plastic garbage bags. The next six months will be treated as a grace period.

HRM staff hope to educate citizens on how sorting is both easy and cost efficient. According to the press release, each cell of a landfill, where garbage is dumped, only lasts for about 3 years and costs $20 million to build.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) and the Valley Region have already implemented the clear bag program and have seen an increase in recycling and a decrease in garbage collection. The Halifax Regional Municipality is hoping to experience these same improvements.

More information can be obtained via the HRM website (http://halifax.ca/wrms/contact.html). The Public Hearing for the proposed changes is scheduled for March 8 at 6:00 pm in Council Chambers.

The first Crossroads Ceili was held on March 5 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on Cornwall Street in Halifax.

A ceili is a Gaelic social gathering with dancing, music, song and performances.

The ceili was organized to expose the community to different forms of Irish dance and also to showcase Irish dance talent in Halifax. Many people gathered to learn traditional Celtic dances and to watch the talented performers.

There were chairs facing a stage where the musicians sat, and a screen behind them displaying the different dance groups,as well as old black and white photos of past ceilis. The chairs had to be constantly pushed back to make more room.

The event was organized by Zeph Caissie, owner of Diaga Irish Dance school, and sponsored by An Cumann, the Irish Association of Nova Scotia.

The evening started off with Elizabeth Macdonald calling out dance steps to those who wanted to take part. It was an evening filled with social dancing, Irish music, and performances demonstrating different styles of Celtic dance.

“The ceili scene in Halifax kind of died out, I’d like to organize one regularly, maybe every six months.”

The three schools who performed were Diaga Irish Dance, Greene School of Irish Dance, and Scaip na Celti. They demonstrated dance styles from Irish two-hand, Cape Breton, Scottish step, and Highland.

Elizabeth Macdonald has been dancing and teaching Irish dance for more than 20 years. Her group Scaip na Celti focuses on Cape Breton style Irish two-hand social dance. They have dances every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse.

“The social aspect to Irish dancing is great,” Macdonald says. “It’s about community, and showing people it is fun and not hard.”

Sheena Boucher dances with Diaga Irish dance and says ceilis are something she is used to and enjoys.

“I grew up in Cape Breton, so this is my roots.” Boucher says. “A ceili is a gathering of people participating in and performing the traditional music, dance and song.”

She joined the Diaga Irish dance school as soon as it opened in September 2010.

Many people at the ceili were familiar with contra dance, which is similar to the Celtic dancing at the Ceili.

People waiting for steps to be called so they can dance at the Crossroads Ceili (Shannon Galley photo).

Jessica-Rae Linzel had never been to a ceili before, but thought that it would be a fun night out.

Four men robbed and beat two others with a baseball bat late Sunday night in Fairview.

The 22-year-old and 23-year-old men went to the QE2 hospital.

According to Constable Brian Palmeter, at approximately 8:45 p.m., the two victims were approached by a group of four white men at the intersection of Willett Street and Main Avenue. One of the four men asked for a cigarette. When one of the victims said that they didn’t have any, they were ordered to hand over any valuables. The victims cooperated, however they were then assaulted with a baseball bat.

The four attackers left on foot with the victims’ wallets and an Ipod.

The victims’ description of the attackers is, four white men all wearing hoodies and bandanas.

Dalhousie University is lighting the way to sustainable practices by switching to natural gas heating.

The switch came after the Nova Scotia Government implemented a regulation stating sulfur emissions must be reduced by 25 per cent from 2001 levels.

“The only way we could really do that was by switching to natural gas,” says Darrell Boutilier, Director of Operations of Facilities Management.

Dalhousie partnered with Heritage Gas to implement the switch. Planning began in January 2010. The central heating plan was finished by November. The total cost of switching to natural gas was approximately $1.8 million, 75 per cent of which was provided by the provincial governments’ Gas Market Development Fund.

The Director of Facilities at Dal, Darrell Boutilier, says by switching to natural gas, greenhouse emissions will be reduced by 12,000 tons annually, the equivalent of taking 2,400 vehicles off the road.

Bunker C, the fuel Dalhousie previously ran on, creates a lot of soot after being burned.

“For our neighbours, when you’re burning Bunker C with a heavy fuel oil you get a lot of residual sooting and particulate in the air. Unlike Bunker C, the residue of natural gas is water and carbon dioxide, which is a cleaner alternative,” says Boutilier.

Rochelle Owen, Director of the Office of Sustainability, says the change has the net benefit of reducing emissions while saving money.

“In terms of inputs and outputs, it makes better use of our resources and puts less impact on the environment. You want to do things that maximize community benefits.”

The switch helps solidify Dalhousie’s reputation as a leader in sustainability. Last year Dalhousie created Canada’s first College of Sustainability. The environment, sustainability and society major, the first of its kind in Canada, emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary environmental issues.

The recently constructed Mona Campbell Building, on the corner of Coburg Road and Lemarchant Street, is another example of Dalhousie’s commitment to the environment. Some features include a heat pump to redistribute air throughout the building, toilets operating on rainwater collected from the roof and gutters, and high-efficiency lighting.

Boutilier says the switch to natural gas is just the beginning for Dalhousie.

Listen in as Boutilier explains what Dalhousie has in store to become more sustainable.

As the final seconds ticked down on the clock at the Metro Centre on Sunday afternoon, the Dalhousie University Tigers captured their second Atlantic University Sport title in three years with a 78-47 win over the Acadia University Axemen.

As the final seconds ticked down on the clock at the Metro Centre on Sunday afternoon, the Dalhousie University Tigers captured their second Atlantic University Sport title in three years with a 78-47 win over the Acadia University Axemen.

“There were different emotions for the players and the coaches,” said Tigers head coach John Campbell. “The players were very enthusiastic, excited and celebratory but from a coaching perspective it’s a quieter emotion and a sense of relief. We were pleased but unfortunately it doesn’t last very long, you start to think about getting prepared for the following weekend.”

Dalhousie finished their regular season second in the AUS standings and therefore had a bye to the semifinals which took place on Saturday night against St. Francis Xavier University. With more than 5,000 fans in attendance, the Tigers rallied to a 79-68 win to advance to the championship game.

Video footage from Tigers vs. X-Men semifinal game

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wATRZCBR8Ew

The Tigers won three of their four regular season games against Acadia University but had to stay focused if they wanted to win, as the Acadia Axemen upset the 19-1 Cape Breton University Capers in the semifinals.

“We prepared like we do for every other game,” said Campbell. “We were probably a little extra focused just based of the fact that Acadia beat us in our last conference game against them. I think that the guys had a lot of respect for how they can play. We knew that Acadia had played very well the night before against Cape Breton.”

Campbell also made sure that his team did not take anything for granted as these opportunities do not happen often.

“The other thing that we talked about was trying to get the guys to realize how few opportunities you often have to win a championship and how that creates a bit of a legacy for them. We tried to get them to appreciate all of the sacrifices they made along the way and really invest in the opportunity.”

Dalhousie captain Simon Farine had an outstanding weekend. He scored 22 points against St. Francis Xavier University and 24 points against Acadia University. He earned Subway Player of the Game honours on Sunday as well as tournament MVP.

Campbell said although his team had a few small breakdowns, they were able to regain their focus quickly and remain positive.

“I’m really pleased with our overall performance. As we came into the weekend we were focused on trying to really execute our game plan over the course of the two days, and in both games for the majority of the time we were successful in doing that.”

John Campbell (left) is in his ninth season as head coach of the Tigers (Erin Meagher photo).

The Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship will be held at the Metro Centre this coming weekend. Dalhousie will take to the court against Saskatchewan in the CIS quarter-finals on Friday at 6pm and is guaranteed another game on Saturday (see full schedule below).

The Tigers will face some of the best competition in the country but Campbell believes his team can be successful as long as they stick to their game and battle hard.

“We definitely don’t have an easy road. Saskatchewan is the defending national champions. They finished second in a very good conference in western Canada. We have our work cut out for us but at the same time if we’re able to execute our game plan similar to what we did this weekend, I think we can have some success.”

HRM news release about the appointment of the steering committee, including a list of members.

“Any exisiting facilities will be looking to perhaps try to add pieces of infrastructure in order to meet the technical requirements, whereas we’ll be able to build to those specifications.”

Planning for a stadium is still in Phase 1. It involves a feasibility study but does not guarantee that a stadium will be built.

Halifax Regional Council will make that decision in June or July, says Betty Lou Killen, manager of the Stadium Analysis Project for HRM.

Council will be advised by a committee, composed of council members, representatives of government, and citizens.

Killen says the committee is composed of “people who are invested in making sure HRM is a great place to live.”

More than 80 people applied for the committee’s six citizen positions, a number Killen calls “record-breaking.”

The committee will review all relevant information regarding the construction of a stadium, oversee studies and consultations, and make recommendations to council.

This summer it will make a recommendation supporting or opposing the construction of a stadium.

Council will make the ultimate decision. If it decides in favour of a stadium, Phase 2 will involve site selection and design consultation. Construction could begin early next year.

FIFA will be visiting all the candidate cities this fall, says McDonald. If stadium construction has moved into Phase 2, FIFA representatives will be able to look at stadium plans and meet with various levels of government as well as the Canadian Soccer Association, he says.

Each of the chosen cities will play host to seven games over 17 days.

The U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014 has automatically been awarded to Canada as well, and will serve as a test event for the host cities.

More than 80 people packed into the Bus Stop Theater on Gottingen Street this weekend to wish the Halifax Media Cooperative a happy birthday. The organization celebrated its second year reporting on local and grassroots news stories in the city.

More than 80 people packed into the Bus Stop Theater on Gottingen Street this weekend to wish the Halifax Media Cooperative a happy birthday. The organization celebrated its second year reporting on local and grassroots news stories in the city.

Organizers passed out stickers, donation sheets and the group’s broadsheet newspaper, The Tide. Opening the March 5 event was Happy Feet Howe, a musician and author for the Media Co-op.

In between songs, Howe shared his own experience working with the small, independent news site. “It’s a great resource,” he said, looking into the audience. “You, guy with the beard. What issues bother you?”

Howe’s direct style is much in line with the Media Co-op. On one wall was a story list, where party attendees could write down stories they would like to see covered. Next to it was ‘Policy Corner’ featuring suggestions on how the Co-op should be governed.

Their website hosts a similar function, allowing anyone to suggest stories they think the Co-op should cover.

The evening continued with a slate of local musicians, broken up occasionally with pitches to participate in the silent auction and the “radical” jellybean count. The audience was seated around tea-lights in the black box theatre. They were encouraged to join in the copy editing competition, which MC and Media Co-op editor Ben Sichel called the “most exciting part of the evening.” Vegan, gluten-free cake was also served, as the self described radical feminist band, Sock Foot, sang happy birthday.

﻿“It was great to see so many people come out to support and celebrate the work of the Halifax Media Co-op over the last two years,” said Hillary Lindsay, a member of the editorial collective.

The very fact that a news outlet needed to hold a fundraiser is unique. The majority of the Media Co-op’s revenue is made through monthly contributions by readers. The limited advertising that the Cooperative does receive is largely from labour unions and Canadian authors.

The journalism works much the same way – anyone can submit to the website, and most of the journalists work on a volunteer basis. For Howe, that’s part of the magic. “When I go to the meetings, it’s like hanging out with friends,” he said. “There’s cookies, and they let me bring my dog.”

The state of affairs in Canada – and Nova Scotia – shows the need for an independent, reader-driver media, said Lindsay. Considering that the province is dominated largely by the Chronicle Herald and the internationally-owned Metro,it is a David and Goliath battle.

The Media Co-op also garnered support from other alternative media in the city, as the site and Dalhousie radio station CKDU often share audio clips. Author for The Coast, Chris Benjamin, not only attended the party, but donated a book to the silent auction.

According to Lindsay, the lack of competition means that the news media are getting lazy, producing little-to-no investigative journalism.

In recent years, small, online-based startup media outlets have sought to fill the void. Business-oriented AllNovaScotia.com and the Media Co-op have taken on similar roles, with radically different measures; the former opting for a prohibitive paywall and the latter relying on a donation model.

The Halifax Media Cooperative is part of a national network, with locals in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The national Co-op also publishes The Dominion newspaper.

Golden is the new monthly event that is exclusive for those in the fashion and style industry. The event brings together local photographers, models, designers, fashion students and more; for a night of style, beauty and giveaways.

By Megan Rudson

Pacifico Dancebar (Megan Rudson photo).

Golden is the new monthly event that is exclusive for those in the fashion and style industry. The event brings together local photographers, models, designers and fashion students.

“Golden are events I conceived near the end of last year, to try to have some fun and get people engaged, excited and involved with the local fashion and design scene,” says event creator Logan Hudak.

Hudak opened up the hip clothing and accessory store 24 Twenty Eight last year, located at the corner of Sackville Street and Granville Street. This is where he got the initial motivation to create Golden. “It only seemed appropriate since I had recently opened up a new clothing boutique downtown and I have been throwing parties for years throughout the Atlantic provinces.”

Hudak’s store, 24 Twenty Eight (Megan Rudson photo).

Hudak and his friend, Lee Fraser, started 24 Twenty Eight together. They are both interested in music and fashion. Both DJ and promote all over town.

The first Golden event was in January. The next event is to take place on March 18 at Pacifico Dancebar on Barrington Street.

“We do things like local designer showcases, hair and makeup shows and fashion photography contests,” said Hudak.

The event is open to anyone who studies or works in the fashion and beauty industry. You can get in for free by showing identification and proof of your employment at the event. You can also participate by messaging Hudak through the events Facebook page. The page is called: Golden-Halifax Fashion and Beauty Industry Night @ Pacifico.

The events are themed, and each have a different motif. “I have planned a lingerie show, a 50’s pin-up girl and burlesque show, and a local retailer showcase coming up into summer,” says Hudak. Walking the runway at some of the shows are models from the City Models Agency in Halifax.

The event process all started with a creative idea and a lot of hard was involved to make it a reality. Hudak started by planning the decorations and finding staff. He made flyers and found sponsors. Then, he held a model call at his store.

Pacifico Dancebar (Megan Rudson).

After the first two events, reactions have been positive. Hudak said, “These events are meant to be fun and get people talking and working together and exposing local models, photographers and designers.”

The goal for creating Golden was to foster collaborations between people in the fashion and style community. “Ultimately, I hope it encourages more people to become active members of the community and spend money with the sponsors and in my store so I can continue to take on bigger and different events like this and tell the world about this awesome city and the talented people here.”